A federal judge on Tuesday ordered Apple to add third-party payment options to the App Store by December 9, after denying the company’s motion for a stay in Fortnite developer Epic Games’ case against Cupertino.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said the motion, which argued that Apple needed time to implement the changes, was based on “a selective reading of the Court’s findings” and “ignores everything” in favor of an injunction.
Apple loses (again) in fight against Epic Games
Gonzalez Rogers first ruled on the Epic Games v. Apple case in September. Apple won nine out of the 10 counts against its App Store policies. However, Apple lost a very important one when the court said developers should be allowed to offer third-party payments inside their iPhone and iPad apps.
Cupertino confirmed it will appeal that decision, and it last month filed for a delay on making the required changes in the meantime. Apple also argued that it will take time to work through the “many complex issues” associated with adding third-party payment support — something it has never done on iPhone and iPad.
But Gonzalez Rogers said a stay is not warranted in this case. “Apple’s motion is based on a selective reading of this Court’s findings and ignores all of the findings which supported the injunction,” she said Tuesday.
“You haven’t asked for additional time. You’ve asked for an injunction which would effectively take years,” her latest ruling continued. “You asked for an across-the-board stay which could take three, four, five years.”
App Store changes must be made by December 9
Apple lawyer Mark Perry maintained Apple is “going to win the appeal.” He also warned — again — that it would take months for Apple to “figure out” the complications around allowing third-party payment systems.
“This will be the first time Apple has ever allowed live links in an app for digital content,” Perry said. “It’s going to take months to figure out the engineering, economic, business, and other issues. It is exceedingly complicated. There have to be guardrails and guidelines to protect children, to protect developers, to protect consumers, to protect Apple. And they have to be written into guidelines that can be explained and enforced and applied.”
Perry’s arguments did little to sway the judge’s opinion. Assuming another stay of some kind isn’t allowed, Apple has until December 9 to implement the changes that would allow app developers to offer third-party payment options.
Via: The Verge
